Still no camera. It is a dreary day. Raining on and off, which is fine because I have a manuscript draft in front of my face that needs some life breathed into it. It seems that standard run-of-the-mill science writing can turn any eager investigator into the most boring of storytellers - if you let it. It's always good to get continuous perspective from the outside world.
My contact with nature today was embarrassingly short. Paul, my housemate's cat, was whining so I let him out the back door. As I peered my head outside I quickly noticed that a circus had come to my otherwise gray and wintry back yard. Noisy house sparrows, "sweet canada"-singing white-throated sparrows, chipping cardinals, dangling black-capped chickadees, and of course those beloved little fellows with a voice too big for their size, the titmice. Some people might see this party everyday at their feeders, but unfortunately I cannot purchase one since Paul would crash the gathering within minutes and then cough up a few feathers in predatory satisfaction.
Honestly I have never paid much attention to house sparrows, but after hearing that wonderfully strange song of the white-throated sparrow, I carefully scanned the perimeter of the yard checking out each bird with my binoculars. I did see the white-throated sparrow (we'll get to him/her later) among a collection of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). To be honest, I never even noticed that some house sparrows have a black patch on their throat. This, it turns out, is characteristic only of males, who also don a white collar, a gray crown, and a yellowish bill. The black of the throat extends to the lores (the area in front of the eyes). There is also a chestnut strip with runs back from the eyes to the nape. The breast is white, although on a urban-dwelling bird, thats doubtful. The females and juveniles lack the black throat, have a light tan breast, and a dull tan stripe running back from the eye. House sparrows are the little brown birds that you see in large numbers hanging about in and around man-made structures. They can usually be distinguished from other drab looking birds by their song which contains simple, short, repetitive elements. House sparrows are not related to the new world sparrows (Family: Emberizidae) but rather belong to the old world sparrows (Family: Passeridae). They were introduced from Britain into North America in the mid-1800s to control pests, and quickly got out of hand. Interestingly, they are declining in their native range. The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) is also an old world sparrow which looks very similar and was introduced into St. Louis by German immigrants in the 1870s.
So, back to the native species. I easily identified the white-throated sparrow in my yard by the white stripe running over the eye and the yellow dab of color in the lores at the very proximal end of the white stripe. There is also a white strip at the top of the head surround by two black stripes running front to back. Of course, these birds have a nice white throat and their belly can be gray or white or both. They also seem to have two white wing bars that are very thin and unclear. They are often seen in hedgerows and thick vegetation looking for food. They were hanging out in the plants growing along the fence in my yard.
As for the cardinals, titmice, and chickadees, they are all worthy of photos and lengthy behavioral descriptions, and so they will have to wait for another day.
Goodnight.
Scott
No comments:
Post a Comment